State Duma intends to limit the period of circulation of the grivna in Crimea

MOSCOW, May 14. /ITAR-TASS/. The State Duma lower house of the Russian parliament on Wednesday will consider an agenda item concerning the limitation on the period of circulation of the Ukrainian grivna in Crimea until June 1.

The House members are planning to introduce appropriate changes within the framework of the second reading of amendments to the Law "On the Admission of the Republic of Crimea to the RF and on the Formation of New Constituent Entities as Part of the RF the Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol of Federal Jurisdiction".

House Speaker Sergei Naryshkin told journalists, "The amendments to the second reading suggest reducing the period of circulation of the grivna in the territory of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol until June 1, 2014", after which the grivna will have the status of a foreign currency.

"A norm is also suggested, in accordance with which the compulsoriness of the validity of the acts of the Central Bank of Russia in the territory of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol is introduced," he added

Kept intact at the same time are the conceptual provisions fixing a timeframe for elections in the legislative power bodies of Crimea and Sevastopol for the second Sunday of September, i.e. for September 14, 2014.

"The heads of the new constituent entities of the RF will be elected by the legislatures of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, respectively," the House Speaker recalled.

The House is to examine in the first reading a bill on criminal responsibility for concealing a foreign citizenship. Andrei Lugovoi, a House member from the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, who is the sponsor of the bill, suggested introducing a fine amounting to 200,000 roubles or compulsory work for a term of up to 400 hours, for failure by the citizen of the RF to abide by his or her duty to notify the Federal Migration Service about his or her having the citizenship of a foreign state.

Within the scope of a regular "Government Hour" question-and-answer session, the State Duma will hear information to be presented by Mikhail Men, RF Minister for Construction and the Housing/Public Utilities Sector.